A Closer Shave
by Uriel Godfire
Summary: The spinning belt blade cuts Akane's hair, but much, much closer. It's the smallest differences that can have the biggest effects. It's amazing how something as simple as a hair cut can cause people to see things differently, for better or worse.
1. A close shave

Sometimes the difference is minor. This time a meager four inches, four inches that made a huge difference. I'm sure you are familiar with the situation, a young high school girl, Akane Tendo by name, turns at just the wrong moment. A moment before, a young man of similar age, one Ryoga Hibiki, had performed an amazing feat, turning a cloth belt into a razor sharp weapon with the intention of cutting his opponent, Ranma Saotome, in half. Disarmed with a well-placed kick, the belt blade spun through the air like a propeller. Ranma called out to Akane, and she turned to give him a piece of her mind. The belt blade came down, four inches behind Akane, right where her hair was whipped out behind her. It was a bad cut. The hair trim changed some things, most of all helping her get over her crush on the kind doctor Tofu.

Who knows what went different. Maybe Akane stood up straighter, maybe a gust of wind blew the belt a little closer. Whatever happened the belt fell four inches shorter. Not so grim dear reader, Akane was still unhurt, but the razor-like belt cut much closer, missing by less than a quarter inch. No matter how you view it, it's...

- A Closer Shave -

by Uriel Godfire

"...you and I are strangers!!"

Akane felt a breeze as the belt sliced past the back of her head. Everyone froze in shock. Slowly, she reached up toward what was left of her hair.

"A...Akane...", one of her classmates broke the silence. Realization struck.

"You all right Akane?" Ranma knew this wasn't good. It was close, too close. "Did it get ya? Are you hurt?" Only a blank stare in response.

"Looks OK to me."

"Ryoga!" Ranma was furious. "How insensitive can you be? Didn't you see how close that got to actually hurting her? Just look at her hair!" The hair at the back of her head was shaved very short, les than a pinky's width.

"Feh! she didn't get injured, did she? What's the big..." Ranma's fist slammed into his face. Ryoga flew back at least five meters before sliding to a halt. Ranma's female body just shook in anger.

"Did ya see that?"

"Wow man, she's like totally pissed."

"He deserved it, the insensitive jerk!"

"You'll pay for that Ranma!"

"Shut up and listen jerk! I don't care what kind of hell you've seen, it don't give you the right to put innocent people in danger!" Ranma's cold stare was enough to keep Ryoga down. "If this is the kind of person you really are, then you deserve whatever crap you've gotten yourself into!"

"Ranma...", a trembling hand came to rest on his shoulder. "It's all right." Akane's voice was quiet. "I just want to go home now."

"Sure thing Akane, I'm sorry."

Ryoga just stared up at the sky as the two walked away. Had Ranma been right? Had Ryoga lost all sense of what was important. Surely he didn't deserve all the hell he'd been through, but then she didn't deserve what almost happened, or even what did happen. She was even indirectly helping his cause of ruining Ranma's life, and what did she get? She got a brush with peril and a horrible haircut. Ranma couldn't possibly be right. The only thing to do would be to get lost for a while and think it over. He'd find the evidence to prove Ranma wrong and then he'd come back and make life for the villainous Saotome a living hell.

Ranma felt like hell. He couldn't shake it. It's a martial artists duty to protect the innocent. It's a martial artists duty to keep the fight away from the bystanders. It was his duty to protect Akane, and he had failed. It wasn't one of those huge failures, she wasn't hurt, but it was enough. To top it all off, it was his fault. He kicked the belt into the air, and he made Akane angry, and it was even him that had called out to Akane just before she turned around. This kind of thing wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be just Ryoga and himself, not Akane. The worst of it was watching Akane walk down the street ahead of him. It might have been at least a little better if she was stomping down the street angry, that he could deal with. He could just take his lumps, and they'd all move on. Akane wasn't angry, she was quiet. Not crying, or dragging along, just quiet, with a blank look. Akane was still in a kind of shock, operating on autopilot, and Ranma didn't know what to do about it.

Akane stopped, the puddle at her feet reflected her face back up at her. A few hours ago it would have been framed by a full head of hair, and now there were only a few loose strands, uneven and hanging out from the sides. Where her ponytail would have been hanging over her shoulder there was now emptiness. She'd finally gotten it long enough, even longer than Kasumi's. She'd been growing it out for years now, no one thought she looked boyish anymore. That would all change now. It wasn't fair. The reflection was broken by a ring of ripples, then another. Some small part of her was aware of Ranma standing a little distance behind her, and a small voice tried to tell her not to cry in front of him, but she was past caring. With the tears slowly rolling down her cheeks, she ran home.

As Ranma walked in the front door of the Tendo home, he could hear Akane's door slamming behind her.

"Welcome home Ranma," Kasumi chimed from the kitchen. "Was that just Akane? She didn't sound too happy."

"Yeah." Ranma didn't really know what to say. How do you tell someone that their sister almost got a deadly spinning belt blade through the top of the head, loosing almost all of her hair in the process? Even worse, how do you tell that person that it was your fault?

"Well, there is still about an hour an a half until supper. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."

Ranma kicked off his shoes and headed up the stairs to his room. This was too much, he had a lot of thinking to do. Never before had it really occurred to him that people's safety was really at stake. Sure, he'd seen people get hurt before, he'd rescued people from rampaging beasts. It was always just what he was supposed to do, what true martial artists did. They fought other martial artists, and protected the helpless. There were no questions before, no reasons to ask why, or how come. For some reason, Ranma just couldn't stop thinking about it all. What was so different about what happened today with Akane, that it made him think? For probably the first time in his life, Ranma didn't know what to think.

Akane just sat in front of her small mirror. What was she going to do? Even before, her hair was longer than this, how was she going to fix this? A little part of her tried to get her to think about how close it was to actually hurting her, how close she came to serious injury, even death. That was a thought she was avoiding, covering it up with more trivial things like her haircut. First mother, then Kasumi had always cut her hair when she was younger, maybe Kasumi could do something about it now. Taking a deep breath to firm her resolve, she headed down stairs. Quickly and quietly past the kitchen and family room, she went around to the bath. Retrieving scissors, comb, hand towel, and the small hand mirror, she headed out back around to the kitchen. Just outside the kitchen, she hesitated. Kasumi was inside preparing vegetables for dinner, but this had to get done. She stepped in.

"Kasumi?"

"Yes Akane?" She hadn't even turned around.

"Well, you see..."

It's at this point that Kasumi turned around. It's also at this point that Kasumi freaked out. The bowl of vegetables went flying into the air, her hands flying up, "ah!"

Ranma had headed down stairs to talk to, well, anyone about what happened. Seeing Akane entering the kitchen with Kasumi, and hearing the surprise, he dashed into the room. With an amazing feat of agility, he caught the flying bowl, and all of the vegetables.

"I was wondering if you could fix it up?"

Kasumi was in shock, her mouth tried to respond, but her brain gave it no words to speak. The only word she could get out, "what?"

The first tear gathered at the corner of her eye, "I was..."

"It's my fault." Both girls finally notice Ranma's presence.

"but..."

"I was careless during a fight."

"but..."

"I'm sorry. Do you think its salvageable Kasumi?"

Akane and Kasumi just stared at Ranma. Kasumi took the scissors from Akane, then the towel. She looked at the hair. Akane just took on a sad, but maybe relieved look, Kasumi could fix this. Kasumi continued to look at the hair, so little that there was. Ranma and Akane waited patiently. Kasumi slowly handed the scissors back, and the towel.

"I'm terribly sorry Akane." She bowed deeply and quickly left the kitchen.

This is wrong. Kasumi was supposed to fix it. Everything was supposed to be all right. What is she supposed to do now? Her whole world is collapsing around her. A surprise fiancé, with a magical curse no less, is better than her at her own thing, martial arts. This strange guy pops up from nowhere to challenge him to a fight, and it's unlike anything she'd ever seen. Now with her hair all in a fix, Kasumi couldn't help her. She should be angry, she should be destroying cinder blocks, or beating on wooden dummies, but she can't. It keeps coming, so fast, just when she's about to get used to it, it changes. That's it, she's done.

The vegetables skittered across the floor and the bowl spun to a halt. The unconscious Akane Tendo caught in Ranma's arms.

"Kasumi? Mr. Tendo? Pop? Anyone?"


	2. what now?

-A Closer Shave: Chapter 2-

-By Uriel Godfire-

Ranma lifted Akane and carried her out to the family room. There was no one around. "Someone? Anyone?" he called out as he gently set Akane down.

"What are you shouting about now Ranma?" Nabiki asked as she descended the stairs, crossing into the family room. What she saw stopped her cold, and unconscious Akane laying on the floor in front of a worried looking Ranma. "Ranma?" all sarcastic notes had left Nabiki's voice. She had known about the fight, but hadn't followed it across town. At the time she had other business to take care of, but no she was worried that she'd made the wrong choice. "Ranma? What happened?" Only the hardheaded people were supposed to get hurt, people like Kuno and the horde, not her little sister.

"She... she fainted." Ranma noted Nabiki's relieved sigh. "She had a... well, a close shave during my fight," he told Nabiki, pointing out the closely shaven head. Nabiki apparently hadn't noticed it right off. "She's not hurt, but Akane seemed to be counting on Kasumi to uh, to fix her hair."

"And when Kasumi couldn't, she fainted?" Nabiki finished. It did look pretty bad.

"I think it was more a kind of final straw type of thing. I think she had a rough day, and I didn't help none."

"Gee, you think Ranma?" Nabiki knelt close to Akane, and swept the bangs out of her eyes. What exactly could be going through Akane's head right now? Nabiki had to admit that Akane's life had been turned upside down recently. Akane was strong though, all the Tendo sisters were in their own way, they had to be. No matter how bad, there was no way a little haircut was going to keep her down. "So Ranma, what are you gonna do about it?"

It was a simple question, but he didn't have answers. When had life gotten so complicated? "What should I do? I don't know..."

Nabiki looked up at Ranma. That look in his eyes, he looked so lost. "Well for starters, have you apologized?"

"I did, but just saying sorry, it doesn't feel like enough, I mean," Ranma sighed, "look how close I got to..."

Nabiki could see that Ranma was beginning to freak out, this wouldn't do. She had to do something, but what? Slap! Nabiki's hand probably stung more than Ranma's cheek, but it stopped him, now she had to refocus him. "Focus! It didn't hit her Ranma, so you got to figure out what you need to do for her now, right now!"

"This is never gonna happen again, I'll make sure of that!" The determination was visible in Ranma's eyes.

"That's good Ranma, but you still got to own up to what did happen. You got to do something about her hair." Nabiki noted the wince that came to Ranma's face. "tell me, do you have any money Ranma?"

"um, a little,"

"I doubt it's enough, here's five thousand yen, take Akane to see this guy," Nabiki pulls out a business card, "he does my hair whenever I want to look really good." She handed the card and the yen over to him. "you will pay me back when you get the money, just do what you need to do to get this done Saotome!"

Ranma put the money and card away and sat back. He and Nabiki sat in silence as they looked down at Akane, just lying there unconscious. After a long moment, Nabiki broke the silence and quietly asked, "I hope you beat the snot out of that guy Ranma?"

"I gave better than I got, and if he ever shows his face again, the reckless jerk is gonna get it good."

Nabiki approved, and they waited for Akane to come to.

* * *

Akane woke up staring at a strange ceiling. She'd had a horrible dream, or so she thought, but then why was she in the family room, she asked herself as recognition set in. Why too was Nabiki kneeling next to her, and Ranma? Oh god! it wasn't a dream was it?

Nabiki and Ranma had been sitting quietly for a while, waiting for Akane to wake up. Ranma noticed first, acting quickly, supporting her as she sat up. "You ok Akane?"

"What..." tears came to Akane's eyes, "what am I gonna do?"

Nabiki just looked at Akane, sad. She knew about Doctor Tofu. She knew how long Akane had been cultivating that look, growing her hair out. She knew that Akane had been on a helpless quest, but she had been happy. Now Akane had lost all that long effort, and more. Nabiki didn't want to see her sister fall back into old ways, depressed and bitter. Saotome was going to fix this, she'd make sure of it.

The darkening expression on Nabiki's face was picked up by Akane, "it... it really is bad, isn't it? My hair must look freakish!" Tears began to fall.

Ranma was in panic mode. Akane was starting to cry and it was all his fault, well his and Ryoga's, but Ryoga would pay his part later. "No, no Akane, its not freakish,"

"You're lying, i can see the way you're looking at it, even Kasumi..."

"Hey! Stop that! Sure, its bad, but not freakish, it just needs a little fixin'"

"Ranma's right, I know this really good stylist, why don't you take Akane out to see him?" Nabiki emphasized the 'really good' part to try and diffuse the situation.

"Sounds great Nabiki," Ranma smiled nervously, "my treat Akane, what do you say?"

There was a sniffle as Akane nodded. Maybe things would be looking up. Akane looked up and watched Ranma stand and extend his hand to help her up.

"I even got a hat you can wear on your way to the barber," Ranma told her as he helped her up.

"Stylist Ranma, not barber, there's a difference," Nabiki chimed in.

Ranma just gulped and nodded, as he noticed that he was standing with Akane, face to face, and holding her hand. They blushed, and almost forcefully let go of each other's hands. Ranma cleared his throat, "I'll, uh, just go get the hat then," and Ranma dashed off up the stairs to his room. He returned with something rolled up in his hand. Stopping in front of Akane, he smiled nervously. "So, yeah, i got this in China," he said as he snapped out the rolled object, green with a small red star on the front, a Mao cap.

"Thank you Ranma," Akane looked at the cap he was handing her. It was just so... Ranma. It was a little big for her and sat rather loosely on her head.

"Hold on a moment Akane," Nabiki dashed off to the bathroom, coming back with a couple of bobby pins. Pulling off the cap, she pinned up the remainders of the hair, "there, now nothing will look out of place."

"Hey, that really works Nabiki," Ranma said. "No one will be able to tell that there is something wrong," he said smiling now. "It actually looks kinda cute."

Akane and Nabiki stopped cold. Had Ranma just said what they thought he said? For his part, Ranma only just realized he had said that last bit out loud. Nabiki was grinning, Akane blushing, and Ranma did his best impression of a deer caught in the headlights.

"Ranma, you better get going if you're going to take my cute little sister to the stylist," Nabiki said barely holding in the giggles.

"Uh, yeah, right. You ready Akane?"

Akane nodded and Nabiki watched as the blushing pair walked down the path to the front gate. "He's right, she does look cute in that cap."


	3. Fierce

-A Closer Shave: Chapter 3-

-By Uriel Godfire-

Akane and Ranma walked quietly down the side walk, almost side by side. Akane looked sadly at the ground, wondering if the damage could really be undone, Ranma was a half step behind her looking at Akane sadly thinking the same thing. They were still in the residential part of Nerima, and the traffic was low at this time of the day, which Akane was thankful for. She didn't want to think about all the looks she'd be getting if people saw her right now, even if the damage was hidden beneath the cap. Thinking about the cap brought a blush to Akane's face, had Ranma really said that she looked cute in the cap? It had to have been a lie, something to just cheer her up, because there is no way that Ranma would actually call her cute, was there? No it was always uncute this and flat chested that, and now it would be ugly haired freak. A single tear rolled down Akane's cheek.

They crossed the canal and into the shopping district. Ranma was on edge, Akane was still depressed, and there were too many people around, too many possible threats. He mentally slapped himself, and reminded himself, that these people weren't out to get Akane, they were just here shopping, but his eyes kept scanning the crowds none the less. Akane looked up at the now much busier streets, full of people, people who were looking at her. Their eyes pierced right through the cover up and saw how hideous she really looked. The smiling couple across the way by the jewelry store, just look at them huddling and amusing themselves at her misfortune, or the middle school girls in the ice cream parlor, pretending not to watch her as she passed their window, laughing about Akane the horrid freak. Ranma noticed Akane beginning to shiver.

"It's alright Akane, we're almost there. The bar…, uh, stylist will fix it up good, you'll see!"

"It's not going to help Ranma, now I really am uncute!" Akane said, tears rolling down her cheeks. Ranma didn't know how to deal with a crying girl, but he did know that he had to get Akane to the stylist fast, before she broke down completely. Protectively, he put an arm across Akane's shoulder and began to run them both down the street at an accelerated pace, startling Akane who gave a small yelp. "Ranma! What are you doing?" Akane asked holding the cap to her head, to keep it from blowing away, "slow down!"

"Well I figured that the quicker we get to the shop, the quicker we can get you all fixed up and back to your old self."

"But… but… people are looking at us!" Akane said, tears blowing in the wind behind them. "Ranma!" she yelled, "RANMA STOP!"

Akane wasn't expecting them to stop so suddenly, or just because she yelled. She would have fallen over if it weren't for Ranma's hand on her shoulder. Her eyes were wide with alarm and embarrassment, as she felt that everyone around was looking at the girl who was screaming just a moment ago, which they were. "You jerk," she told Ranma, "why did you stop so suddenly!" She followed this up walloping punch to the side of Ranma's head, causing his head to tilt on its side.

Ranma just turned to Akane, head still sideways, "because we're here," he said plainly.

Embarrassed Akane, just looked up at the sign noting that Ranma was right. "Oh, um… yeah," she said blushing, and quickly entered the shop.

Ranma popped his neck back into place with a loud crick. "Feels like she's doing better already," he mumbled to himself. Sighing, he followed her inside. Inside was a whole different world. Ranma was used to the few barber shops he had been to being more all business, with the chairs, mirrors, a side table with clippers and scissors, and a waiting area with some old magazines and current newspapers. This place had the necessities as well, chairs, mirrors, tools, but it was the extras that boggled him. Ranma had never thought cutting hair could be so complex. They had sinks just for washing hair, chairs with hair dryers, and the walls were lined with hair products of all sorts.

A friendly woman's voice caught Ranma's attention, "Welcome, how may we help you today?"

Ranma stumbled on his words, "uh we, I mean she, needs a haircut."

"Does the young lady have an appointment sir?" the receptionist asked.

"Does she need one?" Ranma asked puzzled. "Because this is an emergency lady!"

"Well I'm sorry, but she'll need to make an appointment."

"NO! Someone is gonna see her now! Nabiki Tendo said to come here and see…," Ranma went fishing in his pocket for the card from Nabiki. "uh, I got it right here. We're here to see a Horhay Cesar." Ranma said shoving the card forward to the secretary.

"Ok, just wait there a moment, I'll go get Horhay," the secretary told Ranma. Ranma paced impatiently while Akane waited quietly. Both of them heard a commotion in the back, and saw a young Filipino man in a tight black shirt, and tighter black jeans come scurrying out to the desk.

"Ahh! Where is Nabs? Why didn't she phone to make an appointment?" said the Filipino man, all in a fluster.

"Uh Nabiki isn't here… Horhay?" said Ranma, "She told us to ask for you."

"Ah yes, sorry, where are my manners. Yes I am Horhay," he said with a small bow. "What can Horhay do for you today?"

"I'm Ranma Saotome, and this is Akane Tendo."

"Nabs' sister? How wonderful!"

"yes, well you see, I kind of damaged her hair," Ranma said blushing. "Nabiki said you could fix it."

"Hmm… it must be pretty bad for you to need Horhay," Horhay said punctuating it with a raised eyebrow. Then he turned to Akane "Come, come, young miss, you must show Horhay what this wretched monster has done to your hair, now take off that hat." Akane sighed and pulled off the cap, and removed the bobby pins. Horhay gasped, "oh… my… god! Honey, how could you let this man do this to you! This is an outrage!" and he turned around and slapped Ranma across the cheek.

Akane began to cry again, ticking off Ranma who glared at Horhay growling, "Hey! I don't need you to tell me how bad this is buster! Nabiki said you can fix it, so can you?"

"Nabs was right to send you to Horhay, Horhay will accept this challenge," Horhay told them.

"And it better be girly, not just buzzed all off," Ranma added.

"How dare you insinuate such a thing, I am Horhay!" he said with a huff as if that was all that need be said. Then Horhay turned to Akane and took her arm, leading her into the salon, "Come along honey, Horhay will have you looking ravishing in no time."

Akane blushed and looked back at Ranma with hope in her eyes. Then she looked back to Horhay and asked, "are you sure its going to be all right?"

Horhay gave Akane a confidant look, "I am Horhay!" and they disappeared around the corner.

The secretary turned to Ranma, "Your girlfriend will be at least an hour, if you want to go and come back."

Ranma blushed and stammered, "Girlfriend? Her? No, no, no, I just live with the Tendo's, that's all, and it uh my fault… about her hair that is, it's why I came with her and all…"

The secretary just smirked as she cut Ranma off, "of course sir, I'm sorry. Never the less, it'll be about an hour, why don't you go grab some tea or a bite and come back later." Ranma just nodded, gave a small bow, and stepped back out onto the street. He noticed a little noodle stand down the way a bit and stopped in. Ordering a bowl of ramen and a cup of tea, Ranma sat down, thinking about how it would turn out. Horhay had seemed very confident, which was a positive trait in Ranma's book. He just didn't know how it could possibly be fixed, girls were supposed to have longer hair right? Ranma had to admit that he didn't pay much attention, but as far as he remembered all the girls in their school class had long hair. Even Nabiki had her hair nearly shoulder length, and he was sure that she had the shortest hair he knew. His noodles arrived and Ranma took a big slurp, there was nothing to do except wait. Two bowls of ramen and a pot of tea later had Ranma pacing back and forth outside the stylist's shop. Had it been an hour yet? Were they close to finished yet? How much longer would he have to wait? He went back inside to check with the polite secretary.

"Are they done yet?" Ranma asked.

The secretary sighed, this was the third time he'd been in to check. "Don't wory sir," she told Ranma, "I'll have someone go check on them for you, is that all right?"

"Yes, please," Ranma replied and he sat down in a chair, as the secretary sent one of the other girls to go check on Horhay. Ranma would have scowled if he'd heard what the secretary told the other girl, all he knew was that the girl looked back at Ranma and giggled before disappearing back into the shop. The girl came back out a couple of minutes later and walked right up to Ranma.

"Sir, your girlfriend, oops," the girl giggled, "I mean your friend will be out in a minute, they're just cleaning up now."

"Thank you," Ranma said with a groan. When would these people learn that it wasn't their idea, it was their parents. He stood by the front desk and waited for Akane to come out, telling himself that no matter how bad it looked, he'd be supportive. Seconds turned into minutes as Ranma became more and more impatient.

Horhay came around the corner grinning and told those up front, "Horhay is a miracle worker, and now you will see!" and he motioned for Akane to come out. Ranma was struck speechless, she looked alright, cute even, though he'd be hard pressed to admit to anyone. Akane's hair was trimmed short from the back around to the sides, all even with how close the original cut was. The top was short as well getting longer as it went forward until the long bangs that framed her face and played near her eyes.

"So, Ranma, how does it look?" Akane asked. Ranma just stood there, staring. It really did look girly, which Ranma didn't think was possible with hair that short. At the same time it seemed to Ranma to give her a sporty, energetic, and even tough look, which he'd never associated with girly before. In his mind there were girly girls, like Kasumi, and there were tomboys, like Akane, but with this, Ranma was totally at a loss for words. Akane took this all wrong, tears began to form in her eyes, and she gave a little sniffle, "I knew it! It's horrible…"

Ranma couldn't abide a crying girl, and Akane's sniffle knocked him out of his stupor. "No, no, it's not horrible Akane, trust me, it's just that," Ranma was stammering, "well you know, I'm no good at these things, what would I know?" Ranma sighed, and looked Akane in the eyes, "All I know Akane is that it looks good on you, cute even. I just don't know quite how to describe it."

"Horhay thinks you look fabulous honey," Horhay added, "totally fierce! Grrr!" Ranma and Akane both gave Horhay a nervous look, but he just smiled, waved and headed for the back, "ok, who needs Horhay's genius next? Horhay is ready for you."

The secretary was grinning, "I'm glad you like it," she told them as she rang them up. Ranma paid the secretary, money well spent in his opinion, and walked with Akane back out onto the street. Akane ran her fingers over the short back part of her hair and sighed, it was really all gone, all that work growing it out, lost. Ranma did say that it looked good though, and for some reason that was enough to make her smile. For his part Ranma couldn't help but sneak looks at Akane and her new hairstyle. What was that word Horhay had used? Fierce? All this time Ranma had been engaged to Akane, there had been a sort of confusion about her. She was energetic, a fighter, hot tempered even, but then she'd go and dress all girly or wear her hair long with a ribbon and the like. For the first time she looked right to his eyes. There was no mistake with her hair like that that she was a girl, but no one was going to confuse her for some plain old girly girl either. Fierce, like some kind of lioness or something, maybe Horhay was right.

The walk back home was quiet, and the sun was setting as they approached the front gate. "Ranma," Akane said, just before they reached the gate, "I, just want to thank you, you know, for everything."

"Well uh, yeah, no problem Akane," Ranma said.

"So you think I look good with this hairstyle?"

Ranma was blushing, and turned away, to not let Akane see it. "Yeah, well, just because I like your haircut, don't mean I like you or nothing Akane, we're still not getting married or nothing," he told her, scratching the back of his head. Then it came, the blow to the back of the head from Akane, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"like I'd ever marry you, you big jerk!" Akane said, but she couldn't keep the smile off her face as she walked off to the gate and home. Ranma just watched her walk away from his place on the ground, thinking that fierce was definitely the right word.

* * *

Notes:

Horhay… I'm spelling it phonetically, I know that it would be spelled George in English/Spanish, but the phonetics of the name are important, so in the stor, Horhay it is.

If you were wondering why Horhay is Filipino, it's mostly for the name. As I said before, the phonetics of the name were important for the character, so I had to give him a reason to have a Latin name with a Spanish pronunciation, and since the best choices for that were Spanish, Mexican, and Filipino, I chose Filipino.

The story will go on, now that we've established Akane's new hairstyle, next we'll see how it effects her social life. Keep the reviews coming, I do appreciate them.


	4. lost harmony

A Closer Shave

Chapter 4

Soun Tendo was crying. This wasn't completely unusual, but it was still getting to Ranma who was trying to eat his supper. Kasumi patted her father on his shoulder reassuringly and gave a weak smile, "It will be alright father. It will grow back." Soun sniffled and stalled in his crying at his daughter's words of wisdom.

"Tendo, I think we may need to have a talk about my son and your daughter. We may need to think about switching the engagement if your daughter isn't compatible with my boy." Leave it to Genma Saotome to ruin a good thing.

"Waugh! My daughter will never be married now! Oh my wife I have failed you in raising our daughter!" Soun was crying harder than ever now. Nabiki looked to be lost in her own world, her mind somewhere else as she slowly ate. No one seemed to be paying attention to Akane, too preoccupied by her new very short hairstyle. No one liked it; she knew it was too good to be true. Akane's head hung, still long bangs covering her eyes, unable to lift her food to her mouth as tears slowly brimmed at her eyes. Even Kasumi was disappointed.

Ranma noticed. He noticed and it pissed him off. None of them were looking at Akane, they were only looking at her hair. Couldn't they see she needed them right now? Ranma's fists clenched as he listened to the others talking about Akane as if her hair were everything; Kasumi consoling her father, his own father droning on and on about how unsuitable such a girl was for him, and Mr. Tendo crying more and more. Ranma was losing his appetite.

"…I mean Tendo, how would it look for the school to be run by a dyke." Genma's words were punctuated by a loud snap. Everyone was quiet. Ranma opened his hand slowly and set the broken pair of chopsticks down next to his mostly unfinished meal. Anger rolled off Ranma in waves, but he looked very calm as he looked over to the stunned Kasumi.

"I don't think I'm hungry anymore, I'm sorry Kasumi." Ranma stood from the table and slowly walked away. He paused as he reached the door to the hall, "I think I'm just gonna head out to the dojo, I'd appreciate it if I wasn't disturbed." Then he looked back at Akane out of just the corner of his eye, noting that she was looking up at him from puffy tear brimmed eyes, "you look fine Akane, don't let anyone tell you otherwise." With that he was gone, headed out to the dojo.

Ranma's dramatic exit stirred Nabiki from her ruminations. She looked around the table at the stunned Kasumi, her distraught father, and Mr. Saotome who looked stoically nonchalant. "You know Kasumi, this looks wonderful, but I had a large lunch. Can you save some for me later?" Nabiki pushed away from the table before looking over at Akane, puffy eyed but there was a glimmer of hope as well as she looked toward where Ranma had just left the room. "Hey Akane, if you're not hungry either, would you like to come up stairs? We can try to find you some hats to go with your new hairstyle." Akane wiped her eyes with a small sniffle, then nodded and joined Nabiki as they headed for the stairs.

* * *

Akane sat on the bed in Nabiki's room while Nabiki dug through her closet. The whole world seemed upside down, Mr. Saotome didn't want her to marry Ranma, daddy and Kasumi not being supportive, Ranma being nice to her, and now Nabiki was the one helping her out when she was feeling down. It made her head spin. Akane flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the celing.

"Getting comfortable I see," Nabiki said waving a couple of hats in Akane's field of vision.

"Sorry," Akane sighed, "Its just been such a long day," she said grabbing one of the hats, staring at it. Looking over at Nabiki, she looked pensive, "is… is it really so bad? I mean daddy, Kasumi…"

Nabiki cut her off, "Don't worry about them, it'll take some getting used to for sure. They'll come around in no time, daddy and Kasumi at least, I'm not so sure about Mr. Saotome." She held a hat out over Akane's head to examine it, but shook her head before tossing it aside. "You know, if Mr. Saotome gets out of line, I'm sure Ranma will beat some manners into him for you," she said smirking, "he really seemed to like your new hairstyle."

"Nabiki!" Akane was flustered now, "he was probably just being nice to me, some sort of chauvinistic manly thing about being nice to helpless girls or some such." Then sitting up, she tried on the hat in her hands, flashing a quick smile.

"Nice," Nabiki gave her the thumbs up of approval. Looking down at the bed, she saw the Mao cap Ranma had lent Akane to go to the stylist in; it had fallen out of Akane's pocket. Picking up the cap, she swapped it out for the other one, "huh, that really works."

"Really?" Akane got up to look in the mirror. She really did look good in this hat, Ranma's hat. She tried to ignore her suddenly warm cheeks, "you think he'll let me borrow this for a while longer?"

"Don't ask."

"What?"

"Look, if he's as chauvinistic as you say, or if he's a nice guy, or even if he likes you, he'll let you keep it without asking. Only if he's a complete jerk will he ask for it back." Nabiki said. Akane was staring her down with a look of incredulity. "hey, I've made an art out of getting things from men, trust me." Akane just rolled her eyes before looking back in the mirror, and smiling for herself.

* * *

Kasumi was at a loss for what to do. Nabiki had been the one to help out Akane, father and Mr. Saotome had settled on the porch with a bottle of sake, drinking in an uncomfortable quiet, and Ranma had stormed off to the dojo. Well stormed off was one way of saying it, Akane would have stormed off, but Ranma's exit was more like approaching storm clouds on the horizon. She decided that she better check on Ranma in the dojo, not to disturb him, but just to see that everything was alright. She was good at not being noticed, having had years of practice.

She crossed over to the dojo door and opened it just a small amount quietly. Ranma stood silent and still in the middle of the floor, facing away from her. Then it began, Kasumi's eyes drawn to the movements as Ranma flowed through the forms of his kata. It was smooth, perfect and graceful; much like father had been when he was younger. Where father had been peaceful though, Ranma was mesmerizing, and she couldn't figure out why. She didn't know how long she had been watching, when Ranma flew right in her direction. She knew now what the difference was as Ranma landed with a powerful stomp kick right in front of her, his cold steel eyes staring right into her own. Kasumi's body trembled as her legs wobbled beneath her, waves of menace rolling off Ranma, not directed at her but through her none the less. Without a word he closed the dojo door slowly and quietly. Kasumi let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, and her legs gave out as she collapsed to the ground, staring in shock at the now closed dojo door. She didn't remember getting up or walking back to the house, but she sat at the table and drank the tea she probably made for herself in an attempt to bring some serenity. Tomorrow would be a new day, and hopefully it could bring a little harmony.

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you for your patience, there's more to come, but I am slow and careful at this. The story will progress time wise soon, there will be more days, I promise.

If there are any artists out there that want to draw Akane's new hair, with and/or without the Mao cap, I'd love to see it.


	5. face the music

A Closer Shave

Chapter 5

Ranma was silent as he walked along the fence above her, and she noticed that he was much more focused. Not on the fence but on everything around. His eyes darted all around, betraying his attentiveness despite his supposed relaxed stance. Breakfast had been a quiet affair as well, especially with the absence of both her father and Mr. Saotome. The two men had decided to take breakfast out on the porch to supposedly take in the fresh morning air, but Akane knew that it was likely to avoid dealing with Ranma after his exit the previous evening. Kasumi couldn't even look at Ranma as she handed Akane both of their lunches for school.

School, the thought of it made Akane nervous, twisted her stomach in knots. When she'd dressed this morning she'd briefly considered Ranma's Mao cap, but set it aside in favor of a cute white summer hat with a yellow bow and ribbon. It was a little out of season, but still looked good. Akane knew that it wouldn't hide her hair; she'd have to take it off at some point. They'd notice her missing long hair long before that and then they'd know she was hiding something. The breeze she felt on the back of her neck was a new sensation she'd have to get used to, and it sent a shiver down her spine. Maybe that shiver was actually her dread for the school she was approaching.

Ranma watched as the steady stream of students entered the school gates ahead of Akane and him. How well did he really know any of them? He'd been in the school only a little while yet and hadn't really bothered to get to know anyone. Which of them were the jerks? Which were the popular ones? Who was going to cause trouble? He had no idea, not for the moment at least. Kuno would be waiting, that he was certain of, but did Kuno know anything? Had anyone talked about the fight or the close cut? The gates were approaching fast and Ranma could feel his muscles tense as he felt the nervousness that Akane was practically radiating.

Most of the students were intent on getting into the building, getting to class; no one really paid much attention to the school yard around them. Tatewaki Kuno was not most students. Like the boulder that parts the stream he stood in the middle of the yard as the remainder of the student body flowed past him. He wait stoically for his true loves, and for that filthy lowlife Saotome. Today he would lay Saotome low, show him the strength of a true samurai and free the hearts of his loves. His musings were cut short as he was gifted with the vision of his lovely Akane, who had donned a lovely hat that perfectly complemented her beautiful countenance, surely worn for his benefit. His vision of beauty was marred as the foul Saotome entered the yard at her side. "Saotome! Why on such a day, when she has donned a lovely hat for me do you hound the beautiful Akane with your every dogged step? Prepare yourself for I shall strike… oof!" That really hurt. He decided to contemplate this pain while he looked up at the clouds from the flat of his back; certainly it held a clue as to how he had gotten here.

Everyone in the yard had parted when Kuno began his rant; to give enough space for the fight they knew was coming. It never came. Ranma just moved. Some would later call it a lunge, others some sort of ninja dash, still others would claim that he literally flew like Superman. All would agree that they watched Ranma continue on like nothing had happened as Kuno slowly tipped over like a felled tree. A few would remember the cold gaze that Ranma cast about the crowd as he waited for Akane to rejoin him and the two entered school. No one noticed Akane's hair.

Inside the classroom everything was different. There was a soft murmur of gossip, and eyes everywhere were glancing at Akane. Some of the students had been at the fight, having seen the close shave. Most of them had seen the fight this morning, or non-fight depending on the point of view. Pretty much everyone though did notice the hat Akane was wearing. It was general consensus that the hat looked good on Akane, but that it did nothing to hide the fact that something was wrong. The primary topic of gossip though was Ranma, usually he entered the classroom in a very bored or laidback fashion, today he looked on edge, staring down everyone in the room as he practically escorted Akane to her seat. Even now that they both sat quietly in their seats Ranma looked ready to pounce as Akane just looked nervous. Then the teacher came into the room.

The class rep called for everyone to stand, and bow, and return to their seats to start the day. The teacher took roll. When the teacher looked up to call out Akane Tendo, he saw the hat. "Miss Tendo, I shouldn't have to remind you that there are no hats allowed in the classroom, you are going to have to take it off please."

Akane was nearly trembling as she replied, "Yes Teacher." Slowly she reached up and pulled the hat off, the class getting a good look at her new hair-style for the first time. There was a collective gasp before the room exploded with noise. The teacher regretted asking her to remove her hat as he lost control of the classroom.

"Oh my god, Akane!"

"What happened to your hair?"

"I'm sorry Akane."

"Why would you butcher you beautiful long hair?"

"Hmm, I don't know man, she doesn't look as good as she used to."

"I always knew she wasn't as girly as she pretended to be."

"Finally showing your true colors Tendo?"

The entire class was crowded around Akane's desk, asking question after question. Akane, for her part, was trying to sink down into her desk, maybe vanish completely, with little success. Ranma was pissed, maybe it was leftover from dinner the night before, but some of his classmates weren't helping matters.

"Hey!" There was a clap of thunder as Ranma slapped his desk, leaving a shallow handprint in the wood. "We're here for class not to sit around and talk about Akane's hair," Everyone shut up and looked at Ranma, stunned a little. Ranma gazed into their eyes, radiating an aura of seriousness. "That means sit down," he told them coldly.

Everyone sat down. The teacher was stunned. Saotome had shut down the classroom chaos, Saotome the slacker. He looked back at Saotome, just to see if it was really him, only to receive a nod as if to continue with class. The teacher cleared his throat and finished roll call before continuing with class. There was a nervous tension in the classroom, and everyone was a little distracted still but there were no more outbursts. The shock value of Akane's new hair style wore off; there would be many questions later, that was a certainty. Akane even finally got over it, letting the schoolwork distract her. Any hope for the teacher that this would be a turning point for Saotome was dashed as he sunk back into his usual slacker mode, though with a little glimmer of watchfulness.

Lunch was approaching, everyone knew it, and even the teacher could feel the vultures circling. Akane passed a note to Ranma just before classes ended for lunch. On the note it said, "don't go off on everyone, the sooner the questions get answered, the sooner everything gets back to normal."

"Fine, I'll be waiting for you outside by your favorite tree, I'll give you 10 before I come get you," was his reply note. Akane just nodded after she read it.

The teacher was sweating bullets as he slowly scooted toward the door to the classroom; he didn't want to be anywhere near the class when the break started. He informed the class of its homework assignment as the seconds ticked down, just finishing writing it on the corner of the board and dropping the chalk as the lunch bell sounded. He barely had time to notice that Saotome beat him out of the classroom, by way of the window, before he was out to the hall. The classroom exploded with noise behind him.

Ranma quickly staked a claim at what he had learned was Akane and her friend's regular tree to sit under in the school yard. He sat down to eat his lunch, looking up at the clock on the front of the school and noting the time. Ranma didn't usually spend a lot of time with Akane during lunch; he usually hung out with some of the guys from his class. If he ever did spend time with Akane, it usually led to a bunch of ribbing from the guys often including a few lewd remarks. They were a bunch of idiots. Ranma opened his lunch, expertly crafted by Kasumi as usual, and found that the yard still hadn't filled up with students yet. Between that and the ten minutes he had promised Akane, he found himself with more alone time than he usually had in his life, time to think. His first thought was Akane, and how she was doing surrounded by all their class mates. This caused Ranma to stop eating for just a moment as he wondered when he started to care about that. It's not like he and Akane were friends or anything, well maybe friends, but nothing more certainly. Why should it bother him what other people thought of Akane or her new hair cut? Ok, he could admit a little responsibility because it happened during his fight, it was an honor thing, that's all, nothing to get worked up over. He was just doing his duty. It's not like he really cared how Akane felt, or how some of those things he'd heard seemed to really sting her deep down inside. It was all just stupid anyways, just because her hair wasn't long and so typically girly any more, long girly hair was so boring anyways. What was so special about stupid long hair anyways? Akane's hair looked good really short, not that Akane looked good or nothing, just that the hair style looked good, of course. Stupid people should just mind their own business, and not make girls cry. Was someone making Akane cry right now? How long had it been, ten minutes yet? Stupid girly Akane, probably needed rescuing, he should go, now. Had it been ten minutes yet? Only eight? Stupid time needed to go faster so he could get back in there and rescue her. Not that he liked her or nothing, just that he promised, and Ranma Saotome was a man of his word. Nine minutes? Why hadn't ten passed yet? Ok, promise or no promise, he was going back in now.

Wait is that Akane?

Sure enough, it was Akane, coming out the front door, headed toward Ranma. She wasn't crying, that was a relief, but not chipper looking or anything either. Someone called out to Akane and she turned to find one of her classmates, Sachi, backed by a couple of her friends. "What did you tell everyone Tendo? That your new hair cut is all just some accident?"

"Well it is, why would I lie about it?"

"That deep down inside the Akane they've seen all school year, the sweet girly Akane, is the real Akane, and this is just temporary?"

"Well not exactly, but I mean," Akane found herself involuntarily backing away as Sachi approached her, "Hey what are you trying to say?"

"You can't fool me Tendo," Sachi told her with a widening grin, "You're calling it an accident, but it's your true nature coming out. You've worked so hard at hiding it all year, growing your hair long, toying with all the boys' hearts, playing the cute girly girl this whole time. You even went and got your daddy to get you a manly fiancé to hide behind."

Akane was fully flustered now, in full retreat. "It's not like that; I have no idea what you're talking about. It was arranged. I don't want to marry that jerk."

"Oh you say that. It's a convenient excuse to not have to be all lovey-dovey with your man. Does he know? Does he know about the real you? Tendo the Butch."

Ranma was nearly up on his feet, he would have been half way across the yard to Akane if he didn't see what happened. Akane had been backing up, Sachi was really giving it to her, verbally, that much was clear. Then, right at the end there, a change came over Akane, and her foot sunk in as her body twisted at a speed Ranma found quite respectable. This was finished by a meaty thud as Akane's fist struck Sachi's cheek and the smaller girl caught air, flopping back into her entourage. Akane stood there, breathing deeply, staring Sachi down. "Shut up."

Sachi was helped up by her lackeys, spitting out a bit of blood. Her stunned surprise was quickly replaced by a devious smirk, "way to prove my point Tendo." She backed away from Akane, "let's go girls, wouldn't want any of you to get beat up by a macho butch girl." The girls all snicker as they walk away.

Akane stands up straight again, and looks around the yard, trepidation on her face. There are others in the yard, students from other classes, upperclassmen, all silently watching her. Then there is Ranma, a slightly surprised look on his face, seemingly frozen on the verge of action. Things get a little blurry, and she's not sure why, but she know she can't be here anymore, and takes off to the other side of the school, away from everyone looking at her, and away from Ranma.

"Akane?" Ranma questions after her as he watches her take off for the other side of the school. He stood there silently stunned for a moment. Were those tears?


End file.
